The Current State of Addictive Behaviors Among Adolescents

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Many addictive behaviors are initiated in adolescence. During this developmental period, the brain is maturing through myelination, which is posited to continue until the age of 25 (Arian et al., 2013).

Myelination is a process in which a fatty sheath wraps around the axon of the neuron to increase the speed of communication (Ashwell, 2019). The myelination process begins at the base of the brain (most primitive) and concludes with the prefrontal cortex at the front of the brain.

This means, during adolescence, the mid-region of the brain (limbic system), which is involved in emotional processing and reward, is myelinated and sends and receives signals faster than the prefrontal cortex, which is the region of the brain responsible for self-regulation, rational thinking, and goal-oriented behavior (Brown & Wisco, 2019; Gladwin et al., 2011; Volkow & Boyle, 2018).

Reward Seeking During Adolescence

The myelination process and speed of the limbic region compared to the prefrontal cortex is one reason why adolescents may be more sensitive to rewards. (It is as if the part of the brain that says, "I want that; That feels good," is faster and louder than the part of the brain that says, "Maybe I should consider the potential consequences before I do that?")

In addition, the dopamine system in the brain undergoes substantial changes during adolescence, which is thought to contribute to heightened reward sensitivity (Volkow & Boyle, 2018) and hyperresponsiveness to reward (Galvan 2010, 2013). Thus, adolescents’ approach behaviors toward rewards are stronger than their inhibitory behaviors against them (Galvan, 2013; Gladwin et al., 2011).

For these reasons, adolescents are uniquely susceptible to the powerful, euphoric, and novel effects of drugs of abuse and rewarding behaviors (e.g., gaming, social media, pornography). In addition, beyond brain functioning, adolescents are also significantly influenced by social rewards and peer interactions. The behaviors and perceived perceptions of peers affect an adolescent’s behaviors (Albert et al., 2013); therefore, the presence of peers engaging in potentially addictive behaviors also increases the risk of personal engagement.

In light of these developmental factors, coupled with the fact that many potentially addictive behaviors are marketed toward youth (e.g., social media, gaming, vaping), it is important to regularly assess the state of addictive behaviors among adolescents. One perspective that is particularly useful is that of school counselors.

Perceptions of School Counselors

School counselors are charged with promoting students’ academic achievement, social and emotional learning, and readiness to pursue a career (American School Counseling Association, 2019). Given the potentially detrimental effects of addictive behaviors on these three factors, school counselors have a unique understanding of addictive behaviors within their schools.

In a recent study, scholars surveyed 221 public high school counselors to assess their perspectives on a variety of addictive behaviors in their schools (Giordano et al., 2023). The researchers asked school counselors to indicate whether each of the 13 addictive behaviors was a major concern in their school, a minor concern in their school, or not a concern in their school.

The findings revealed that:

• 51.6 percent of the high school counselors identified social media addiction as a major concern in their school
• 40.3 percent identified marijuana use as a major concern
• 37.1 percent identified nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) as a major concern
• 19.9 percent identified alcohol use as a major concern
• 10 percent identified gaming addiction as a major concern

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It is interesting to note that along with alcohol and marijuana, three potentially addictive behaviors (namely social media, NSSI, and gaming) also were reported as major concerns by a percentage of school counselors.

Additionally, 83.7 percent of the school counselors reported working with at least one student in the previous year who had issues with vaping, and 81 percent worked with at least one student who had issues related to gaming (Giordano et al., 2023).

High School Substance Use Statistics

This information complements the data presented in the Monitoring the Future study, which regularly assesses substance use among middle and high school students.

In the 2022 study, scholars reported past year use among 10^th and 12^th graders with regard to a variety of substances. Importantly, 19.5 percent of 10^th graders and 30.7 percent of 12^th graders reported using marijuana in the past year, 31.3 percent of 10^th graders and 51.9 percent of 12^th graders reported using alcohol, and 5.7 percent of 10^th graders and 8.0 percent of 12^th graders reported using any illicit drug other than marijuana (Miech et al., 2023).

Moreover, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) also provides data on adolescent substance use and reported that in the year 2021, 15.1 percent of 12-year-olds to 20-year-olds engaged in alcohol use in the past month (8.3 percent engaged in binge drinking) and 11 percent vaped nicotine or used a tobacco product in the past month (SAMHSA, 2022).

The Need for Prevention

Therefore, in light of the current state of addictive behaviors among adolescents, it is imperative to focus on prevention. Specifically, prevention efforts should address not only alcohol and other drug use, but also social media use, gaming, and NSSI.

One potential form of prevention is enhancing students’ emotion regulation skills, or their ability to monitor and modify their emotional reactions (Thompson, 1994). Several research studies indicate that difficulty in emotion regulation predicts more engagement in addictive behaviors (Cashwell et al., 2017; Estevez et al., 2017; Giordano et al., 2022).

Additionally, children and adolescents should be equipped with information about the risks of addictive behaviors and discuss the potential consequences (slowing down to talk through the consequences with adolescents may be particularly helpful as the prefrontal cortex continues to mature).

Furthermore, adolescents should have the opportunity to practice and develop effective refusal skills when they are offered a drug of abuse by a peer. Observing refusal skills, and then practicing and receiving feedback, can help develop self-efficacy among youth.

And finally, given the ubiquitous nature of digital media, it is important for families to create technology plans to guide how long, how much, and what kind of technology use is appropriate. The goal is for adolescents to have a myriad of diverse, enriching experiences throughout the day and for digital media use (e.g., social media, gaming) to be purposeful and controlled.

In these ways, we can use recent data provided by school counselors and other sources about addictive behavior among youth to create systemic change.